Clean, Western Sci/Fi/Fantasy Contemporary Romance Novella Excerpt: The room was dark, the blinds shut and curtains drawn to keep out the dawn's light so as not to interrupt Ben's much needed rest. The loud thump, closer to a crash, shook his bed and rattled the dozen spaceship models on the upper shelf of his bookcase opposite his bed. His body jerked awake. His gasp slurred through lips dry from a night's sleep. "What the-" Silence. Ben groaned. He must have been dreaming. He peered drowsily at his wrist watch. It was 5 a.m. He yawned drowsily, pulled the covers tighter about him and went back to sleep, missing the bright colors seeping from behind the perimeter of the drawn curtains.... Excerpt: She gave herself one last look in the mirror above the bureau. Fiona had helped her choose a wardrobe. "Wear this one, tonight," she had advised, a simple but elegant pink short-sleeved, A-line sheath with a scooped neckline, not too high and not too low, showing enough of her neck and chest to make her desirable, but not available. A thin silver bracelet dangled from her wrist and coordinated her single strand necklace and pendant earrings. Good choices, Jessica thought. The dress did not detract from her naivete, a trait that Ben hadn't yet admitted to himself, he liked about her from their first meeting. The doorbell rang again, this time more insistent. She had a complicated job ahead of her, to convince Ben to fold to his initial attraction to her. As for herself, the human term, love at first sight, although often not a reliable truism for the human mind, in the case of her civilization, was extremely reliable. The heels of her pink leather shoes clicked across the tiled floors. She intentionally avoided the oriental area rug centered under the coffee table and the gray suede couch, to avoid snagging the narrow heels, they as well, not too low and not too high. The bell rang a third time. Patience was not his best quality, but then, neither had it been hers when she decided to come here. Something they both needed to work on. "I'm coming," Jessica called apologetically. She reached to unlock the door, then remembered Fiona's advice always to look through the eye hole, to see who was behind the door before she opened it. She did as advised. Ben waited, dry faced, but spiffy in a Stetson, tan blazer and pants, beige shirt and black bolo tie, the two braided leather strings clipped with a thumb-sized oval eye stone. She took a deep breath to calm the accelerated beating of her heart, contemplated her own self-worth, and unchained and unlocked the door. She opened it wide, greeting Ben with a welcoming smile. Excerpt: "Too soon. I showed Ben too soon. You were right not to tell Lester the truth all these years for fear of losing him."She turned pleading eyes to her friend. "Oh, Fiona, I should have waited " For the first time in her young life, Jessica burst into tears. Fiona clasped her in a sisterly embrace. "Dearest, don't be upset. He loves you. I broke the rules and looked into his mind for you. That man adores you. I assure you. He'll come around. You'll see." "No ... no. He ... he thinks I'm insane." Fiona pressed Jessica to her heart. "I've known Ben since he started working for the magazine. He's a good man. He won't abandon you. Tell me what happened." Jessica swallowed the gulp in her throat. "I know ... he won't ... leave me," she said between body-wracking sobs. "But for his own ... happiness ... I may have to ... leave him.""